Alright, so what you suggest my changes be is go back to the Caviar Green and dial down on the RAM so I have 8GB rather than 16. So if I did that I cut down about $50-60. Should I appropriate these funds somewhere else or is it not worth spending it somewhere else on this build?

Edit: I think I will go with that GTX 660 you posted then.

Schreek

I was about to recommend that one! Excellent choice!

Alright, so what you suggest my changes be is go back to the Caviar Green and dial down on the RAM so I have 8GB rather than 16. So if I did that I cut down about $50-60. Should I appropriate these funds somewhere else or is it not worth spending it somewhere else on this build?

Schreek

Haha sorry, edited my post. See above. :) I would spend that extra on a more powerful video card. I put two recomendations above.

Thank you for your feedback! Okay, so if I were to go Intel rather than AMD, would this work out better? Also, my budget is under $1,000.

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500 @ 3.3

GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5

RAM - Corsair 16 GB Vengeance Blue Low Profile 1600mhz

Motherboard - ASUS LGA 1155 - Z68 - PCIe 3.0 and UEFI BIOS Intel Z68 ATX DDR3

HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM

OD - The ASUS drive

Case - Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case

PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply

Also, the reason I have 16 GB of RAM is I am kinda skimping out on the graphics card so the 16 GB of RAM will help compensate a little bit in making the system a little faster.

Schreek

Great choice on the 2500. It's a fantastic cpu and one of the more popular processors used in gaming builds. To my knowledge, the system RAM works independently of the video RAM, so having 16 gigs over 8 gigs won't make a difference as far as your graphics are concerned (someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Also, I would stick with the Caviar Green instead of the Caviar Black. I actually bought a Caviar Black initially for my build, but it was INSANELY loud, like an old-fashioned coffee pot percolating at it's highest point, so I swapped it out for a Caviar Green. The 1 TB version is about $90 on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0053YKMGA/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00

Also, by dropping from 16 GB RAM to 8 GB, you'll save about $30 - $40, which you can then put towards a slightly more powerful video card, such as this:

EVGA SuperClocked 012-P3-1572-AR GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

or maybe even this if you have $20 to $30 extra:

MSI N660 Ti PE 2GD5/OC GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Here is my conceptual rig. Be brutally honest on how I did.

CPU - AMD FX 8120 8-Core Processor @ 3.1

GPU - XFX AMD Radeon HD 6950 800M 2 GB DDR5

RAM - Corsair XMS3 16GB (4x 4GB) PC3-10666 1333MHz DDR3

Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

HDD - Western Digital Caviar Green 2 TB

Case - Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case

PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply

Schreek

What's your budget? If your budget is large enough, I would go with and Intel setup instead, but if you are on a tight budget there is absolutely nothing wrong with going the AMD route. I've got an i5 - 3550 and have been very pleased with it. But again, even though AMD is behind in overall performance, I still think you'll be pleased with the FX 8120 if you are on a budget. To save a little money, I would drop the 16 GB of RAM down to 8 GB - 8 is more than plenty if all you are doing is gaming. Everything else looks solid to me!

Nice choice on the HDD by the way! I have a 1 TB Western Digital Caviar Green myself, and I absolutely love it. It's almost dead silent and still has great performance.

EDIT: You may also want to add an opitcal drive for physical games and for installing your OS. I recommend this:

Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)

I have an Intel-based system with an AMD card myself, and I have had zero problems so far. I've got a Core i5-3550 at 3.3 Ghz and a Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 video card. I can run just about anything on Ultra - Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, Nexuiz, Diablo 3, etc. I'm not sure what's wrong with your system though.:(

[QUOTE="shufu7-11"]

[QUOTE="ronvalencia"]

I used your parts list as a guide and entered it into pcpartpicker.com web site and managed to fit in AMD Radeon HD 7850 GPU.

CPU:AMD FX-6100 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($118.99 @ NCIX US)

Memory:Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive:Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.86 @ Outlet PC)

Video Card:VisionTek Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)

Case:Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.98 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply:Cooler Master 750W ATX12V Power Supply ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive:Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.65 @ Amazon)

Total: $898.43 (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-28 02:09 EDT-0400)

-----------

Total (before mail-in rebates):$938.43

Mail-in Rebates:$-40.00

Total:$898.43

PS; Unless you are planning to connect your PC into MS's Active Directory/Domain corporate network, having Windows 7 Pro is pointless for home use.

ronvalencia

Thanks for the input. I chose Windows 7 Pro for the XP Compatability mode and I've been pretty happy with it on my laptop, so my question now is can I still play older XP games on the Home edition without XP Compatability mode?

Virtual machine software such as Virtual Box(free download) or VMware Workstation has Direct3D compatibility.

XP Compatibility mode is just a modified Virtual PC+Windows XP software and it doesn't have Direct3D compatibility i.e. it's designed to run legacy business applications.

http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/ch04.html#guestadd-3d

That's just what I needed to hear. Thanks!

Yeah Drop the PSU to 650w, even 500w would support your system but get 650w so you have some buffer room for any changes later on. Don't get a CPU cooler if your not overclocking, no need to waste money. I don't know what your money situation is. I personally would wait till I could afford an intel CPU, instead of AMD. Maybe even stick with your old operating system for now and wait till windows 8 comes out Do you already have a monitor? Things to pick up in the future: 5.1 computer speakers!STAR_Admiral

No monitor yet. I'm probably going with something fairly small, like 21" - 23".

Do you guys think I'd be okay going with a lower wattage on teh PSU? Again I've never built a gaming PC before so I just went with 750W just to be safe. If a lower wattage is okay (I was thinking maybe 650W) then I could probably save a few more bucks.

you can probably save 10 bucks buying the hard drive on amazon.com. also you can get an hd 7770 for cheaper than the 6850 and preformance is similar while consuming less power. finally props to you going with an antec 900 always a fan of it such a classic and iconic case

ionusX

Yeah the Antec 900 had a lot of great reviews so it was really a no-brainer.:)

I used your parts list as a guide and entered it into pcpartpicker.com web site and managed to fit in AMD Radeon HD 7850 GPU.

CPU:AMD FX-6100 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($129.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($118.99 @ NCIX US)

Memory:Corsair XMS3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)

Hard Drive:Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.86 @ Outlet PC)

Video Card:VisionTek Radeon HD 7850 2GB Video Card ($219.99 @ Newegg)

Case:Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.98 @ NCIX US)

Power Supply:Cooler Master 750W ATX12V Power Supply ($64.99 @ Newegg)

Optical Drive:Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($49.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($90.65 @ Amazon)

Total: $898.43 (Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-07-28 02:09 EDT-0400)

-----------

Total (before mail-in rebates):$938.43

Mail-in Rebates:$-40.00

Total:$898.43

PS; Unless you are planning to connect your PC into MS's Active Directory/Domain corporate network, having Windows 7 Pro is pointless for home use.

ronvalencia

Thanks for the input. I chose Windows 7 Pro for the XP Compatability mode and I've been pretty happy with it on my laptop, so my question now is can I still play older XP games on the Home edition without XP Compatability mode?